System and method for obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage

ABSTRACT

In a computer-implemented method, customer information may be received. The customer information may be used, with the customer&#39;s permission, to automatically obtain for the customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider, the first insurance policy having first policy features and a first premium corresponding to a first policy term. The customer may be notified of the first insurance provider and the first premium. In response to automatically determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, the customer information may be used, again with customer permission, to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider, the second insurance policy having second policy features and a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term. The customer may be presented the second insurance policy via wireless communication on their mobile device for their review and approval.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This claims the benefit of:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/060,080, entitled “System and Method for Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage” and filed on Oct. 6, 2014;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/104,596, entitled “System and Method for Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage” and filed on Jan. 16, 2015;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/189,885, entitled “System and Method for Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage” and filed on Jul. 8, 2015; and

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/199,008, entitled “System and Method for Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage” and filed on Jul. 30, 2015.

The disclosures of all of the above-listed applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to insurance and, more specifically, to systems and methods for obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage.

BACKGROUND

Individuals who seek insurance coverage and are sensitive to premiums/pricing and product features (e.g., coverage types, deductibles, limits, etc.) often expend considerable time and effort in finding insurance providers that best meet their needs. Conventionally, a customer finds an insurance provider by word of mouth, through an agent/broker, or via the Internet by using an aggregator or comparison website or general web browsing. Once the customer obtains an insurance policy from the desired provider, the customer may be by default tied to that provider, and to the rates and product features offered by that provider, until and unless he or she proactively shops around for a new provider offering a policy with a better rate and/or better product features. For example, a customer might decide to look into the offerings of other insurance providers at a time when the customer's current policy is up for renewal. Thus, a customer typically must either spend considerable time and effort looking for better insurance offerings on a recurring basis, or simply renew his or her current policy regardless of whether that policy provides the best rate and/or product features going forward.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present embodiments may, inter alia, automatically provide customers with insurance policies that offer better rates and/or product features on a continuing basis (e.g., across multiple policy terms), thereby reducing or eliminating the time and/or effort that customers must spend researching the offerings of different insurance providers.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method may include (1) receiving, at one or more hardware servers, customer information associated with a customer (from the customer and/or with the customer's permission); (2) storing the customer information in a customer profile database; and (3) using, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider. The first insurance policy may have (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term. The method may also include (4) notifying, via a communication interface of the one or more hardware servers, the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium. The method may also include (5) automatically determining, by the one or more hardware servers, that the first policy term is nearing expiration; and (6) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, using, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information (with the customer's permission) stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider. The second insurance policy may have (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term. The method may further include (7) notifying, via the communication interface of the one or more hardware servers, the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium, such as for their review and approval via their mobile device. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

In another aspect, a system may include a data storage storing a customer profile database, a communication interface configured to communicate with remote devices via a network, one or more processors, and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, may cause the one or more processors to, with a customer's affirmative consent or permission, (1) use customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for a customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider. The first insurance policy may have (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term. The instructions may also cause the one or more processors to (2) notify, via the communication interface, the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium; (3) automatically determine that the first policy term is nearing expiration; and (4) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider. The second insurance policy may have (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term. The instructions may further cause the one or more processors to (5) notify, via the communication interface, the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium, such as via wireless communication and their mobile device. The system may include additional, fewer, or alternate components, elements and/or functionality, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

With the present embodiments, a customer may first opt into a program or agreement (e.g., one offered by an intermediary entity such as the entity associated with computing system 14 of FIG. 1), and willingly share his or her personal data (and/or vehicle data, health data, etc.) for purposes of obtaining insurance coverage. In return, the customer may obtain one or more benefits that may be provided by various embodiments described herein, such as superior insurance rates/terms, and/or automatic renewal (or change) of insurance policies with little or no effort by the customer, for example. In some embodiments, customers who opt in may also receive other benefits, such as insurance discounts or rewards, for example.

Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Figures described below depict various aspects of the system and methods disclosed herein. It should be understood that each figure depicts one embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed system and methods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with a possible embodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary environment including components and entities associated with obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary process for grouping customers together in order to obtain better insurance policy pricing and/or other policy features, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary method for obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage for a customer, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary method for obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage for a customer, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary computer system in which the techniques described herein may be implemented, according to one embodiment.

The Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Exemplary Automatic Procurement and Maintenance of Insurance Coverage

The present embodiments relate to, inter alia, obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage with insurance policies having advantageous rates and/or product features. The insurance policies may be policies for any type of insurance, such as automobile or other vehicle insurance, home or condominium insurance, personal property insurance or life insurance, health insurance, pet insurance, burial insurance, for example.

In some embodiments, an intermediary entity may act on behalf of consumers (and/or otherwise with the affirmative consent or permission) to find policy rates and/or other features that best meet the consumers' insurance requirements and/or preferences. Initially, each consumer may access an application form (e.g., an on-line form) and enter information relevant to the availability and/or pricing of the consumer's desired insurance policy, such as demographic information (e.g., gender, birth date, etc.), information about the consumer's property (e.g., a make, model and year of an automobile, etc.), claim and/or accident history of the consumer, and so on. Based upon the entered information, the consumer may be grouped together with one or more other consumers in an “affinity group.”

The affinity group may be defined by any suitable criterion or criteria, such as insurance provider requirements and/or classifications, behavioral and/or attitudinal segmentation, member requirements and/or preferences, etc. To provide just a few more specific examples, the affinity group may be defined by the occupation of the group members, risk characteristics of the group members (e.g., as is typically determined during the underwriting process), insurance claim expectations of the group members (e.g., based upon past claim history and/or risk characteristics), insurance company ratings required or preferred by the group members (e.g., AAA), the content and/or availability of telematics data obtained from vehicles of the group members, etc. An affinity group may be established any time that two or more members are identified as meeting the group requirements, or may be established only when some higher threshold number of members (e.g., 100 members, 1,000 members, etc.) has been met, for example.

Once an affinity group has been established, the intermediary entity may present information about the affinity group members to a number of insurance providers/carriers, along with a request for insurance coverage quotes. The intermediary entity may hold an auction within a particular time period or window of time, for example. During the auction, the participating insurance providers may be permitted to bid on providing insurance for the affinity group. The insurance provider that “wins” by bidding the lowest price/rate (given the profile of the affinity group members), or more generally, in some embodiments, by bidding to provide a policy that aligns most closely with the requirements and/or preferences of the group members, may be chosen to provide the insurance to the members of the affinity group for a specified time period or term (e.g., six months). During that time period, the winning insurance provider may directly handle claims and other inquiries from the members of the affinity group (e.g., on-line and/or via a dedicated call center), and the members of the affinity group may have their checking accounts, credit cards, and/or other fund sources automatically debited (e.g., periodically) by the winning insurance provider in order to pay for the insurance coverage.

In some embodiments, the intermediary entity may, prior to the conclusion of each of one or more policy terms for the affinity group members, automatically conduct another auction for the affinity group. In this manner, the affinity group members may continually receive the most competitively priced insurance coverage (and/or the insurance with the best product features), with little or no additional effort by the group members. Some of the benefits and/or pricing discounts earned by group members, such as loyalty or accident-free discounts, may become a part of the profile of the affinity group, and may be priced into the future costs of the affinity group's insurance coverage. If a member of the affinity group has a driving violation or accident, the member may be moved to a different affinity group to which the member better aligns (e.g., to an affinity group with more similar risk characteristics and/or insurance claim expectations, etc.) for future auctions. The intermediary entity may conduct insurance coverage auctions for a number of different affinity groups. The intermediary entity may form new groups, rearrange existing groups, and/or shop groups to insurance providers on a periodic (e.g., daily) basis, or on any other suitable basis.

In other embodiments, the intermediary entity may instead (or additionally) obtain insurance policies for consumers on an individual basis. For example, the intermediary entity may use a consumer profile (e.g., containing information that was entered in an on-line or other application form, claim information, telematics data, etc.) to automatically seek out an insurance company providing a policy that best meets the pricing and/or product feature requirements and/or preferences of the consumer. The intermediary entity may automatically perform this process when the consumer first obtains a policy and/or each time that the consumer's current policy is up for renewal. In these embodiments, the intermediary entity may seek the best insurance provider/policy each term (e.g., each six months) without conducting auctions. For example, the intermediary entity may instead request a single quote from each of multiple insurance providers each time that a current policy term is drawing to a close, and select the provider with the “best” (e.g., lowest price) quote for the next term without entertaining a second round of bids.

The intermediary entity may obtain revenue in various different ways according to different embodiments. For example, the insurance provider that offers a winning bid in an auction might pay the intermediary entity a flat administrative fee, and/or a commission that includes a percentage of the insurance premium(s) for the affinity group. Alternatively, or additionally, each member of the affinity group might pay the intermediary entity an annual membership fee.

By using one or more of the techniques described above, consumers may be able to obtain insurance coverage at the most competitive price available, on a continuing basis and without the hassles of shopping for insurance on their own. Moreover, participating insurance providers may be able to attract larger groups of consumers, including those who otherwise may not have considered those providers for their insurance needs.

II. Exemplary Environment for Automatically Obtaining and Maintaining Insurance Coverage

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary environment 10 including components associated with obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage, according to one embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the environment 10 may include M computing devices 12-1 through 12-M associated with M respective consumers (e.g., thousands of consumers, millions of consumers, etc.). Each of the computing devices 12-1 through 12-M may be any suitable type of computing device having wired and/or wireless communication capabilities, such as a personal computer, tablet, phablet, smartphone, etc. The terms “consumer” and “customer” are utilized interchangeably herein, and generally refer to a person who is an insured party or a potential insured party. A consumer or customer may be represented by himself or herself, or may be represented by an agent (e.g., by a spouse, a person who has power of attorney for the consumer or customer, an administrative assistant, etc.).

The environment 10 may also include a computing system 14 associated with an intermediary entity. The computing system 14 may include one or more servers of the intermediary entity, or may include a plurality of networked computing devices that have an appearance of a single, logical computing device or system, e.g., a group of cloud computing devices. The computing system 14 may be communicatively coupled to computing devices 12-1 through 12-M via a network (not shown in FIG. 1). The network may be a single communication network, or may include multiple communication networks of one or more types (e.g., one or more wired and/or wireless local area networks (LANs), and/or one or more wired and/or wireless wide area networks (WANs) such as the Internet), for example.

The environment 10 may also include computing systems 16-1 through 16-N associated with N respective insurance providers (e.g., two insurance providers, five insurance providers, etc.). Each of the computing systems 16-1 through 16-N may include one or more servers or computing devices of the respective insurance provider, and may be communicatively coupled to computing system 14 via a network (not shown in FIG. 1). The network may be a single communication network, or may include multiple communication networks of one or more types (e.g., one or more wired and/or wireless LANs, and/or one or more wired and/or wireless WANs such as the Internet), for example. Each of the insurance providers 16-1 through 16-N may be a company providing a particular type or types of insurance, such as automobile or other vehicle insurance, home or condominium insurance, personal property insurance and/or life insurance, for example.

The computing system 14 may include various units, including a consumer profiling unit 20, a consumer grouping unit 22, a policy procurement unit 24 and a notification unit 26. Each of some or all of the units 20, 22, 24 and 26 may be (or may include) a respective set of one or more computing devices or processors that executes software instructions to perform the corresponding functions described herein. Alternatively, each of some or all of the units 20, 22, 24 and 26 may be or include a respective component of software that is stored on one or more computer-readable media (e.g., a random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM) of the computing system 14) and executed by one or more processors of the computing system 14 to perform the corresponding functions described herein. Further, one or more of the units may be combined into a single unit, or may be omitted. In various different embodiments, for example, the computing system 14 does not include consumer grouping unit 22 and/or notification unit 26.

Generally, in one embodiment, consumer profiling unit 20 collects information regarding the consumers operating computing devices 12-1 through 12-M (with consumers' permission or consent) and stores the collected information in a consumer profile database 30 that includes a separate profile for each consumer. The consumer profile database 30 may be any suitable type of persistent memory. Consumer profiling unit 20 may obtain the information in any of one or more ways. For example, consumer profiling unit 20 may obtain demographic information (e.g., gender, birth date) and information about consumers' properties (e.g., makes, models and years of automobiles, etc.) via on-line forms filled out by the consumers using computing devices 12-1 through 12-M.

The consumer profiling unit 20 may provide the on-line forms as one or more web pages (e.g., HTML files, JavaServer Pages files, etc.) stored in a memory of the computing system 14, and the consumers may use web browser applications executing on the computing devices 12-1 through 12-M to access the web page(s), for example. Via the on-line forms, or via other suitable means, consumer profiling unit 20 may also collect insurance preferences and/or requirements of the various consumers. For example, each consumer may enter his or her preferred or required coverage types, coverage limits, deductibles, insurance provider ratings (e.g., AAA), and/or any other preference or requirement relating to insurance. A consumer may indicate that he or she prefers to have a policy through an insurance company that offers live insurance agents, for example. In an alternative embodiment and/or scenario, some or all of the consumers provide information via physical application forms, and some or all of the computing devices 12-1 through 12-M may be omitted in the exemplary environment 10.

Further, also with consumer permission or consent, consumer profiling unit 20 may collect other information that is also to be stored in consumer profile database 30. For a consumer already having an insurance policy with an insurance provider (e.g., one of the insurance providers associated with computing systems 16-1 through 16-N), for example, consumer profiling unit 20 may receive claims information from that provider (e.g., number and/or dates of past claims, past claim payouts made to or on behalf of the consumer, etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, consumer profiling unit 20 may receive telematics data indicative of a consumer's driving performance (e.g., acceleration data, braking data, cornering data, etc.).

Consumer grouping unit 22 may utilize at least some of the consumer information stored in consumer profile database 30 to form one or more affinity groups, and store indications of which of the consumers belong to which affinity groups in an affinity group database 32. The affinity group database 32 may be any suitable type of persistent memory (e.g., the same memory storing consumer profile database 30). Consumer grouping unit 22 may place the consumers into the affinity group(s) based upon the criteria of the groups, which may reflect consumer preferences and/or requirements, insurance provider requirements and/or classifications, and/or behavioral and/or attitudinal segmentation of consumers (e.g., as determined using telematics data indicating driving performance/behaviors), for example.

Policy procurement unit 24 may conduct an automated auction in order to obtain insurance policies for the members of each of the one or more affinity groups. For a given affinity group, policy procurement unit 24 may send information defining the group membership criteria, and/or information about the individual members (e.g., profile information stored in consumer profile database 30), to each of the insurance provider computing systems 16-1 through 16-M, along with a request for insurance premium quotes.

After analyzing the information, one or more of the insurance providers may decide to bid on the provision of insurance to the affinity group, and policy procurement unit 24 may receive the bid(s) from the respective ones of insurance provider computing systems 16-1 through 16-M. Policy procurement unit 24 may send each received bid to all others of the insurance provider computing systems 16-1 through 16-M, and bidding may continue in an iterative fashion until auction termination criteria have been met (e.g., until a predetermined amount of time elapses, or until a predetermined amount of time since the last bid elapses, etc.). The insurance provider having the best bid (e.g., lowest price and/or best non-price features) at the time the auction terminates may be granted the ability to provide insurance policies to the members of the affinity group.

The intermediary entity may be authorized to enter a binding contract for the policy/policies on behalf of the consumers, or may require some confirmation or election by the members of the affinity group. If a contract is automatically established via by the agency of the intermediary entity, notification unit 26 may cause the members of the affinity group to be informed of the new insurance provider and the new policy (e.g., by email, letter, etc.). If consumer confirmation or election is required, notification unit 26 may instead cause the members of the affinity group to be sent an indication of the best offer or offers and the corresponding providers, along with a request for confirmation or election. Policy procurement unit 24 may then form the contract with the winning insurance provider after the confirmation or election, for example.

In some embodiments, policy procurement unit 24 may also be responsible for renewing existing insurance policies, or switching to a new provider and policy if a better rate and/or other policy features can be found. For example, policy procurement unit 24 may store policy term data for all procured policies in a term schedule database 34 (which may be any suitable type of persistent memory, such as the memory storing consumer profile database 30 and/or affinity group database 32), and may access term schedule database 34 to detect when policy terms are nearing their end (e.g., one month before expiration, or one week before expiration, etc.). When policy terms are nearing their end for the members of an affinity group, policy procurement unit 24 may conduct a new auction among the insurance providers (possibly including more, fewer and/or different providers than had participated in the previous auction), and a new winning provider may be identified.

If the winning provider is the same as the current provider, the policies may simply be renewed. Again, notification unit 26 may cause the members of the affinity group to be notified of the renewal (or to be notified of the switch to a new provider), or may first request confirmation or an election from the members. In some embodiments, the affinity group may be reviewed and/or adjusted (e.g., members added and/or removed) by consumer grouping unit 22 prior to each auction, to help ensure that the affinity group criteria continue to be met by all of its members.

In some embodiments and/or scenarios, all members of a single affinity group are provided with policies that have identical start and stop dates. In other embodiments and/or scenarios, at least some of the members may be provided with policies having different start and/or stop dates (e.g., based upon requested start and/or stop dates stored in the consumer profile database 30, etc.).

In other embodiments, consumer grouping unit 22 is omitted, and the computing system 14 only attempts to obtain insurance coverage for consumers on an individual basis. In one such embodiment, policy procurement unit 24 may obtain the best rate for each consumer not by conducting an auction, but rather by automatically requesting a single quote from each of the insurance providers, and taking the best quote (e.g., the lowest premium, and/or a quote with other features best matching the consumer's preferences and/or requirements). Similar to the auction embodiments described above, policy procurement unit 24 may detect when a renewal time is approaching, and automatically request a new round of quotes from the insurance providers at that time to determine whether to renew the consumer's current policy or to initiate a new policy with a new provider. Notification unit 26 may simply notify the consumer of the policy and provider for each upcoming term, or may first request confirmation or election of a particular policy/provider.

In certain embodiments, each of the insurance providers may determine whether to bid, the bid amount(s), whether to provide a quote, and/or the quote amount(s) by applying a rules engine implemented by the corresponding one of the computing systems 16-1 through 16-N. Alternatively, one, some or all of the insurance providers may provide their bidding/quoting rules to the intermediary entity such that some or all of the bidding/quoting decisions (e.g., bid or quote amounts, when to offer a bid, etc.) may be made locally at computing system 14.

The policy procurement unit 24, or another unit not shown in FIG. 1, may also set up automated payments for policies that are currently, or will be, in effect. For example, the customers associated with computing devices 12-1 through 12-M may provide credit card or other information to the computing system 14, where the information may be stored in consumer profile database 30. When policy procurement unit 24 obtains an insurance policy from an insurance provider for a particular consumer, that consumer's payment information may be retrieved from consumer profile database 30 and sent to the insurance provider. Alternatively, the computing system 14 may automatically collect the consumer payments, and provide corresponding payments to the insurance provider.

As can be seen from the above discussion, the components in the environment 10, when using the above techniques, may enable a consumer to not only obtain insurance with the best available terms, but also maintain insurance with the best available terms on an ongoing basis, without necessarily having to take any action whatsoever (or, in some embodiments, with only minimal action, such as confirming the intermediary entity's choice of an insurance provider). As such, the resource usage or consumption of the components in the environment 10 (e.g., in the computing systems 16 and/or the computing devices 12) may be reduced. For example, fewer processor cycles may be utilized by servers of the computing systems 16-1 through 16-4 and/or by the computing devices 12-1 through 12-M, if consumers do not need to periodically browse websites to search for the best available insurance products. Moreover, combining consumers into affinity groups may reduce network traffic between the computing system 14 of the intermediary entity and the computing systems 16-1 through 16-J of the insurance providers, thereby improving network efficiency.

III. Exemplary Process for Grouping Customers

As noted above, in some embodiments, customers may be grouped together in order to more efficiently obtain insurance, and/or to obtain insurance with better pricing and/or other terms. FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary process 100 for grouping customers, according to one embodiment. The process 100 may be implemented by the consumer grouping unit 22 of FIG. 1, for example.

In the process 100, consumer preferences 102-1 through 102-M , associated with M customers (e.g., the consumers associated with computing devices 12-1 through 12-M of FIG. 1), may serve as inputs to a grouping algorithm 104, which may arrange the M customers into J outputs groups 106-1 through 106-J. Although referred to here as customer “preferences,” it is understood that customer preferences 102-1 through 102-M may include preferences, requirements, and/or a mix of preferences and requirements.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, each of customer preferences 102 includes a respective premium preference 110A (e.g., a desired or required maximum premium), a respective set of coverage types 110B (e.g., one or more desired or required coverage types), a respective set of deductibles 110C (e.g., one or more desired or required deductibles, or maximum deductibles, for one or more coverage types), a respective set of coverage limits 110D (e.g., one or more desired or required limits, or minimum limits, for one or more coverage types), and a respective insurer rating 110E (e.g., a desired or required minimum rating for the insurance provider). In other embodiments and/or scenarios, however, one, some or all of the customer preferences 102-1 through 102-M may include more, fewer and/or different preferences and/or requirements than are shown in FIG. 2. For example, customer preferences 102-1 may omit the insurer rating 110E-1, customer preferences 102-2 may include a requirement that the insurance provide offer live agent services, etc.

The grouping algorithm 104 may use any suitable algorithm/rules to arrange the M customers into the J groups 106-1 through 106-J. For example, the grouping algorithm 104 may place the customer associated with preferences 102-1 into group 106-1 only if preferences 102-1 have the same values for any “required” terms as all other customers in the group. Alternatively, the grouping algorithm 104 may under some circumstances (e.g., if group 106-1 is below some threshold membership/size) place the customer associated with preferences 102-1 into group 106-1 so long as all other members of the group 106-1 have requirements that are at least as stringent as those in preferences 102-1 (e.g., so long as all other members have maximum deductibles that are lower than maximum deductibles specified in deductibles 110C-1, etc.).

As another example, each group 106 may be associated with a predetermined set of preferences. For example, the grouping algorithm 104 may place the customer associated with preferences 102-1 into group 106-1 only if all of preferences 102-1 match (or fall within the range of) the predetermined set of preferences.

As yet another example, the grouping algorithm 104 may place the customer associated with preferences 102-1 and the customer associated with preferences 102-2 into group 106-1 so long as preferences 102-1 and preferences 102-2 have at least a threshold compatibility score. The grouping algorithm 104 may calculate the compatibility score based upon factors such as the magnitude of the differences between the non-required terms (e.g., difference in maximum premium, difference in minimum coverage limit, etc.), for example.

In some embodiments, the grouping algorithm 104 also, or instead, uses non-preference/requirement information to group customers. For example, the grouping algorithm 104 may group customers based upon demographic information (e.g., by age range), characteristics of properties to be insured (e.g., vehicle value, etc.), risk characteristics/profiles, etc.

Once the grouping algorithm 104 has formed the groups 106-1 through 106-4 information about the groups 106-1 through 106-J may be provided to the insurers for bidding or quoting, as described above in connection with FIG. 1. The information provided to the insurers may specify the number of group members in each group, and/or other information such as demographic information, information about properties to be insured, and so on. The information provided to the insurers may also include the preferences 102 of each group member, or a set of group preferences applicable to the entire group (e.g., the predetermined set of preferences described above), for example.

IV. Exemplary Methods for Automatically Obtaining and Maintaining Insurance Coverage

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary method 200 for obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage for a customer, according to one embodiment. The method 200 may be implemented in (e.g., performed by one or more hardware servers of) a computing system such as the computing system 14 of FIG. 1, for example.

In the exemplary method 200, customer information associated with a customer may be received (block 202) (with customer permission or consent). The information may be received from a computing device of the customer (e.g., when the customer submits an on-line form), from a terminal at which data is entered based upon a telephone call with the customer, from a database maintained by an insurance provider (e.g., if the customer authorizes the sharing of such information), and/or in any other suitable manner. The customer information may include demographic information about the customer (e.g., gender, birth date, etc.) and/or information about a property of the customer that is to be insured (e.g., make, model and year of an automobile), for example. The customer information may also, or instead, include one or more policy features that are required or preferred by the customer, such as coverage type(s), deductible(s), coverage limit(s), insurer rating, premium range, etc., and/or may also include other information relating to the customer (e.g., claim history of the customer, moving violations for the customer, etc.).

The customer information may be stored in a customer profile database, such as consumer profile database 30 of FIG. 1, for example (block 204). Once stored, the customer information may be retrieved and used to automatically obtain for the customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider (block 206) (such as after receiving customer permission or affirmative consent, or opt-in to a discount or other program). The first insurance policy may be obtained in various ways, according to different embodiments. For example, the customer information retrieved from the customer profile database may be provided to a plurality of insurance providers, and one or more bids may be received from each of one or more of those insurance providers (including a bid from the first insurance provider) during the course of an automated auction. The insurance providers that provide bids may have generated the bids using the customer information, proprietary pricing rules, and/or knowledge of the bids of other insurance providers (e.g., if a server implementing the method 200 shares bids with all insurance providers), for example. In the exemplary scenario of the method 200, the bid from the first insurance provider is then selected as the best bid, with the policy corresponding to that bid being the insurance policy obtained at block 206.

As another example, the stored customer information may be used to assign the customer to an affinity group with one or more other customers, and information associated with the affinity group (e.g., a set of requirements and/or preferences indicative of the group as a whole) may be provided to a plurality of insurance providers. One or more bids may then be received from each of one or more of those insurance providers (including a bid from the first insurance provider) during the course of an automated auction. The insurance providers that provide bids may have generated the bids using the information associated with the affinity group, proprietary pricing rules, and/or knowledge of the bids of other insurance providers (e.g., if a server implementing the method 200 shares bids with all insurance providers), for example. In the exemplary scenario of the method 200, the bid from the first insurance provider is then selected as the best bid, with the policy corresponding to that bid being the insurance policy obtained at block 206.

As yet another example, the stored customer information may be provided to a plurality of insurance providers, and a quote may then be received from each of one or more of those insurance providers (including a quote from the first insurance provider). The insurance providers that provide a quote may have generated the quote using the customer information and proprietary pricing rules, for example. In the exemplary scenario of the method 200, the quote from the first insurance provider is then selected as the best quote, with the policy corresponding to that quote being the insurance policy obtained at block 206.

In some embodiments, the customer, or all customers of an affinity group, is/are asked to confirm that the first insurance provider and/or the first insurance policy is/are acceptable before a contractual agreement with the first insurance provider to provide the first insurance policy is entered. For example, the customer(s) may be sent an automatically generated email asking for permission to purchase the first insurance policy.

The customer may be notified of the first insurance provider, and the premium for the term of the policy obtained from the first insurance provider, via a communication interface (block 208). The notification may be before or after any contractual agreement is made with the first insurance provider. The customer may also be notified of one or more other, non-price features of the policy, such as the coverage types for the policy, the policy deductible(s), the policy limit(s), and so on. The customer may be notified by automatically generating an email containing an indication of the first insurance provider and other information (e.g., premium), and sending the email to a client device of the customer, for example. Alternatively, the customer may be notified by letter, text message, or any other suitable form of communication.

It may be automatically determined that the term of the obtained policy is nearing its expiration (block 210). The determination may be made by checking an expiration date stored in a database similar to term schedule database 34 of FIG. 1, for example. In response to determining that the policy term is nearing expiration, the customer information stored in the customer profile database may again be retrieved, and used to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy (for a subsequent policy term) from another insurance provider (block 212). While the method 200 corresponds to a scenario in which the second insurance policy is obtained from a different insurance provider than the first insurance policy, it is understood that, in other scenarios (e.g., where the same insurance provider offers the best pricing and/or other features in consecutive policy terms), the policy for the subsequent policy term may simply be a renewal of the first insurance policy.

The second insurance policy may be obtained in various ways, according to different embodiments. The second insurance policy may be obtained in the same manner as the first insurance policy, for example. In some embodiments, however, additional customer information (e.g., information submitted by the customer to indicate recent events and/or changes in demographic information of the customer, such as recent moving violations, change of address or age, etc.) may also be used (e.g., provided to the competing insurance providers) in order to automatically obtain the second insurance policy.

The customer may be notified of the second insurance provider, and the premium for the term of the policy obtained from the second insurance provider, via the communication interface (block 214). The notification may be before or after any contractual agreement is made with the second insurance provider. The customer may also be notified of one or more other, non-price features of the policy, such as the coverage types for the policy, the policy deductible(s), the policy limit(s), and so on. Block 214 may be similar to block 208, for example.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary method 250 for obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage for a customer, according to one embodiment. Whereas the method 200 encompasses embodiments that utilize automated auctions (e.g., accepting rounds of bids from insurance providers) as well as embodiments that do not utilize automated auctions (e.g., obtaining a single quote from each insurance provider), the method 250 corresponds more specifically to one embodiment in which insurance is obtained for a customer on a recurring basis by conducting auctions. The method 250 may be implemented in (e.g., performed by one or more hardware servers of) a computing system such as the computing system 14 of FIG. 1, for example.

In the exemplary method 250, customer information (e.g., demographic information, property information, requirements/preferences, etc.) associated with a customer may be received (block 252), and stored in a customer profile database (block 254). Blocks 252 and 254 may be similar to blocks 202 and 204, respectively, of the method 200, for example. The customer information may be retrieved from the customer profile database and provided to a plurality of insurance providers (block 256). For example, data representing the customer information may be sent to servers of the plurality of insurance providers via a network and a communication interface of a server implementing the method 250.

In response to providing the customer information, one or more bids may be received from each of one or more of the insurance providers (block 258). Each bid may include an offered insurance premium a respective one of the insurance providers. Each insurance provider that provides a bid may have generated the bid/premium using the customer information and proprietary pricing rules of that insurance provider, for example. If the auction includes multiple rounds, multiple bids may be received by some or all of the insurance providers. For example, the method 250 may include communicating a current best bid to all participating insurance providers (e.g., all insurance providers to which the customer information was provided at block 256, or all insurance providers that submitted an initial bid that was received at block 258), and one or more of those insurance providers may respond by submitting an additional bid.

After one or more rounds of bidding, the best bid (e.g., the bid with the lowest premium, and/or the bid that best matches one or more required and/or preferred policy features that were specified in the customer information received at block 252) may be selected (block 260). The best bid may include/specify a premium corresponding to a first policy term. The customer may be sent a notice indicating at least the insurance provider that provided the best bid and the corresponding premium (block 262).

At a later time, it may be automatically determined that the term of the first insurance policy is nearing its expiration (block 264). The determination may be made by checking an expiration date stored in a database similar to term schedule database 34 of FIG. 1, for example. In response, the customer information may again be retrieved from the customer profile database, and again provided to a plurality of insurance providers (block 266). The insurance providers may be the same, partially the same, or entirely different than the insurance providers to which customer information was provided at block 256. In some embodiments and/or scenarios, the customer information may be supplemented with additional information, such as recent events for the customer and/or changes in the customer's circumstances.

Thereafter, one or more bids may be received from each of the insurance providers (block 268). Block 268 may be similar to block 258. As with the earlier round of bids, each insurance provider that provides a bid may have generated the bid/premium using the customer information and proprietary pricing rules of that insurance provider, for example.

After one or more rounds of bidding, the best bid (e.g., the bid with the lowest premium, and/or the bid that best matches one or more required and/or preferred policy features that were specified in the customer information received at block 252) may be selected (block 270). Block 270 may be similar to block 260. The best bid may include/specify a premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term. The customer may be sent a notice indicating at least the insurance provider that provided the best bid and the corresponding premium (block 272).

The method 250 may also include one or more additional blocks not shown in FIG. 4. For example, the method 250 may include a first additional block (e.g., between blocks 262 and 264) in which the first insurance policy is automatically obtained for the customer, with terms corresponding to the best bid selected at block 260, and/or a second additional block (e.g., after block 272) in which the second insurance policy is automatically obtained for the customer, with terms corresponding to the best bid selected at block 270. The insurance policies may be obtained by entering into binding insurance agreements/contracts on behalf of the customer, for example.

V. Exemplary Computer System for Automatically Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage

FIG. 5 depicts an example computer system 300 in which the techniques described herein may be implemented, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the computer system 300 may be included in the system 10 of FIG. 1. For example, any one or more of the units 20-26 may comprise one or more instances of the computer system 300, or the intermediary entity 14 may comprise one or more instances of the computer system 300. The computer system 300 of FIG. 5 includes a computing device in the form of a computer 310. Components of the computer 310 may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit 320, a system memory 330, and a system bus 321 that couples various system components including the system memory 330 to the processing unit 320. The system bus 321 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, or a local bus, and may use any suitable bus architecture. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus (also known as Mezzanine bus).

Computer 310 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 310 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, and both removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by computer 310. Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The system memory 330 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 331 and random access memory (RAM) 332. A basic input/output system 333 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 310, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 331. RAM 332 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to, and/or presently being operated on, by processing unit 320. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 5 illustrates operating system 334, application programs 335, other program modules 336, and program data 337.

The computer 310 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, FIG. 5 illustrates a hard disk drive 341 that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 351 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 352, and an optical disk drive 355 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk 356 such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 341 may be connected to the system bus 321 through a non-removable memory interface such as interface 340, and magnetic disk drive 351 and optical disk drive 355 may be connected to the system bus 321 by a removable memory interface, such as interface 350.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 5 provide storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computer 310. In FIG. 5, for example, hard disk drive 341 is illustrated as storing operating system 344, application programs 345, other program modules 346, and program data 347. Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system 334, application programs 335, other program modules 336, and program data 337. Operating system 344, application programs 345, other program modules 346, and program data 347 are given different numbers here to illustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands and information into the computer 310 through input devices such as cursor control device 361 (e.g., a mouse, trackball, touch pad, etc.) and keyboard 362. A monitor 391 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 321 via an interface, such as a video interface 390. In addition to the monitor, computers may also include other peripheral output devices such as printer 396, which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 395.

The computer 310 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 380. The remote computer 380 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 310, although only a memory storage device 381 has been illustrated in FIG. 5. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 5 include a local area network (LAN) 371 and a wide area network (WAN) 373, but may also include other networks. Such networking environments are commonplace in hospitals, offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 310 is connected to the LAN 371 through a network interface or adapter 370. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 310 typically includes a modem 372 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 373, such as the Internet. The modem 372, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 321 via the input interface 360, or other appropriate mechanism. The communications connections 370, 372, which allow the device to communicate with other devices, are an example of communication media, as discussed above. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 310, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device 381. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 5 illustrates remote application programs 385 as residing on memory device 381.

In some configurations, the computer 310 may be included in a plurality of networked computers or computing devices that have the logical appearance as a single, integral computing node, e.g., a cloud computing system. For example, the application programs 345, other program modules 346 and/or program data 337 may be stored in and executed by the logical, single computing node.

The techniques for automatically obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage described above may be implemented in part or in their entirety within a computer system such as the computer system 300 illustrated in FIG. 5. The computer 310 may be a server or computing device of an intermediary entity (e.g., within the computing system 14 of FIG. 1), and the remote computer 380 may be a server or computing device of an insurance provider (e.g., within one of the computing systems 16-1 through 16-N of FIG. 1), for example. In some such embodiments, the LAN 371 may be omitted (e.g., communications may between computer 310 and computer 380 may only occur via WAN 373). Application programs 335 and 345 may include programs that implement the consumer profiling unit 20, consumer grouping unit 22, policy procurement unit 24 and/or notification unit 26 of FIG. 1, for example. Consumer profile database 30, affinity group database 32 and/or term schedule database 34 may be stored on hard disk drive 341, magnetic disk 352 or optical disk 356, for example.

In operation, the computer 310 may receive demographic, property, preference and/or other information from consumer computing devices (not shown in FIG. 5), form affinity groups based upon that information, provide the remote computer 380 (and one or more other, similar computers of other insurance providers) at least some of the consumer information along with a request for bids, and receive bids from the remote computer 380 (and/or from one or more other, similar computers of other insurance providers). The computer 310 may then determine the winning bid and notify the consumers in the affinity group by sending messages (e.g., emails) to the appropriate consumer computing devices, for example.

VI. Exemplary Methods for Automatically Obtaining and Maintaining Insurance Coverage

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method, e.g., for automatically obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage on behalf of a customer, may be provided. The method may include, with the customer's affirmative consent or permission (such as via opt-in to a rewards or discount online program): (1) receiving, at one or more hardware servers, customer information associated with a customer; (2) storing the customer information in a customer profile database; (3) using, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider, the first insurance policy having (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term; (4) notifying, via a communication interface of the one or more hardware servers, the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium; (5) automatically determining, by the one or more hardware servers, that the first policy term is nearing expiration; (6) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, using, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider, the second insurance policy having (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term; and/or (7) notifying, via the communication interface of the one or more hardware servers, the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, receiving customer information may include receiving demographic information about the customer, receiving information about a property of the customer that is to be insured, and/or receiving one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer. In embodiments where the received information includes one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer. Receiving customer information may include receiving one or more of: (1) one or more coverage types required or preferred by the customer; (2) one or more deductibles required or preferred by the customer; (3) one or more coverage limits required or preferred by the customer; (4) an insurer rating required or preferred by the customer; and/or (5) a premium range required or preferred by the customer.

Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider may include: (1) providing the customer information to a plurality of insurance providers; (2) receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the first insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the first insurance provider as a first best bid, the first best bid corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium. Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider may include: (1) again providing the customer information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as a second best bid, the second best bid corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider may include: (1) using the customer information to assign the customer to an affinity group with one or more other customers; (2) providing affinity group information associated with the affinity group to a plurality of insurance providers; (3) receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the first insurance provider; and/or (4) selecting the bid from the first insurance provider as a first best bid, the first best bid corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium. Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider may include: (1) again providing the affinity group information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as a second best bid, the second best bid corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider may include: (1) providing the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a plurality of insurance providers; (2) receiving a quote from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a quote from the first insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the quote from the first insurance provider as a first best quote, the first best quote corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium. Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider may include: (1) again providing the customer information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving a quote from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a quote from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the quote from the second insurance provider as a second best quote, the second best quote corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

Using the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy may include using (i) the customer information stored in the customer profile database, and/or (ii) additional customer information submitted by the customer, to automatically obtain the second insurance policy.

Receiving customer information associated with the customer may include receiving customer information entered by the customer at a client device using an on-line form. And notifying the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium may include automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of the customer, and/or notifying the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium may include automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method, e.g., for automatically obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage on behalf of a customer using auctions, may be provided. The method may include: (1) receiving, at one or more hardware servers, customer information associated with a customer; (2) storing the customer information in a customer profile database; (3) providing, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a first plurality of insurance providers; (4) receiving, at the one or more hardware servers, one or more bids from each of one or more of the first plurality of insurance providers; (5) selecting, by the one or more hardware servers, a bid from a first insurance provider of the first plurality of insurance providers as a best bid, the best bid including a first premium corresponding to a first policy term; (6) sending, via a communication interface of the one or more hardware servers, the customer a first notice indicating at least (i) the first insurance provider and (ii) the first premium; (7) automatically determining, by the one or more hardware servers, that the first policy term is nearing expiration; (8) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, providing, by the one or more hardware servers, the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a second plurality of insurance providers, the second plurality of insurance providers being different than or the same as the first plurality of insurance providers; (9) receiving, at the one or more hardware servers, one or more bids from each of one or more of the second plurality of insurance providers; (10) selecting, by the one or more hardware servers, a bid from a second insurance provider of the second plurality of insurance providers as a subsequent best bid, the second insurance provider being different than or the same as the first insurance provider, and the subsequent best bid including a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term; and/or (11) sending, via the communication interface, the customer a second notice indicating at least (i) the second insurance provider, and (ii) the second premium. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, receiving customer information may include receiving, from a client device of the customer, information entered by the customer when using the client device to access an on-line form.

The method may further include, after sending the customer the first notice, storing in the customer profile database additional customer information indicative of a new premium discount or other insurance coverage benefit associated with the customer, and selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as the subsequent best bid may include using the additional customer information to select the bid from the second insurance provider as the subsequent best bid.

Storing additional customer information in the customer profile database may include storing information indicative of a loyalty discount to which the customer is entitled under the business rules of one or more insurance providers. Additionally or alternatively, storing additional customer information in the customer profile database may include storing information indicative of an accident-free discount to which the customer is entitled under the business rules of one or more insurance providers.

Receiving customer information may include receiving one or both of (i) demographic information about the customer, and (ii) information about a property, of the customer, that is to be insured. Receiving customer information may also include receiving one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer. Additionally or alternatively, receiving customer information may include receiving: (1) one or more coverage types required or preferred by the customer; (2) one or more deductibles required or preferred by the customer; (3) one or more coverage limits required or preferred by the customer; (4) an insurer rating required or preferred by the customer; and/or (5) a premium range required or preferred by the customer.

Sending the customer a first notice may include sending the customer a first notice indicating at least (i) the first insurance provider, (ii) the first premium, and (iii) an expiration date of the first policy term, and/or sending the customer a second notice, may include sending the customer a second notice indicating at least (i) the second insurance provider, (ii) the second premium, and (iii) an expiration date of the second policy term.

Receiving customer information associated with the customer may further include receiving other customer information associated with a plurality of other customers, storing the customer information in the customer profile database may further include storing the other customer information in the customer profile database, providing the customer information stored in the customer profile database to the first plurality of insurance providers may further include providing the other customer information stored in the customer profile database to the first plurality of insurance providers, and/or sending the customer a first notice indicating at least the first insurance provider and the first premium may further include sending the plurality of customers notices indicating at least the first insurance provider and the first premium.

The method may further include, after selecting the bid from the first insurance provider as the best bid, receiving from the first insurance provider an amount corresponding to (i) a flat fee, or (ii) a percentage of the first premium, and/or after selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as the subsequent best bid, receiving from the second insurance provider an amount corresponding to (i) the flat fee, or (ii) a percentage of the second premium.

Providing the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a first plurality of insurance providers may include providing the customer information to a first plurality of insurance providers who have paid or agreed to pay a membership fee, and/or providing the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a second plurality of insurance providers may include providing the customer information to a second plurality of insurance providers who have paid or agree to pay the membership fee.

Sending the customer the first notice may include automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of the customer, and/or sending the customer the second notice includes automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device of the customer.

VII. Exemplary Systems for Automatically Obtaining and Maintaining Insurance Coverage

In one aspect, a system, e.g., for automatically obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage on behalf of a customer, may be provided. The system may include a data storage storing a customer profile database, a communication interface configured to communicate with remote devices via a network, one or more processors, and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to, with customer permission, affirmative consent, or opt-in to an online discount or rewards program: (1) use customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for a customer a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider, the first insurance policy having (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term; (2) notify, via the communication interface, the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium; (3) automatically determine that the first policy term is nearing expiration; (4) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain for the customer a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider, the second insurance policy having (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term; and (5) notify, via the communication interface, the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium. The system may include additional, fewer, or alternate components, elements and/or functionality, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the customer information may include demographic information about the customer and/or information about a property of the customer that is to be insured. The customer information may also include one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer. For example, the customer information may include one or more coverage types required or preferred by the customer, one or more deductibles required or preferred by the customer, one or more coverage limits required or preferred by the customer, an insurer rating required or preferred by the customer, and/or a premium range required or preferred by the customer.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the first insurance policy at least in part by: (1) providing the customer information to a plurality of insurance providers; (2) receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the first insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the first insurance provider as a first best bid, the first best bid corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium, and may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the second insurance policy at least in part by: (1) again providing the customer information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as a second best bid, the second best bid corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the first insurance policy at least in part by: (1) using the customer information to assign the customer to an affinity group with one or more other customers; (2) providing affinity group information associated with the affinity group to a plurality of insurance providers; (3) receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the first insurance provider; and/or (4) selecting the bid from the first insurance provider as a first best bid, the first best bid corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium, and may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the second insurance policy at least in part by: (1) again providing the affinity group information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving one or more bids from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a bid from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the bid from the second insurance provider as a second best bid, the second best bid corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the first insurance policy at least in part by: (1) providing the customer information to a plurality of insurance providers; (2) receiving a quote from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a quote from the first insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the quote from the first insurance provider as a first best quote, the first best quote corresponding to the first policy features and the first premium, and may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain a second insurance policy at least in part by: (1) again providing the customer information to the plurality of insurance providers; (2) again receiving a quote from each of one or more of the plurality of insurance providers, including a quote from the second insurance provider; and/or (3) selecting the quote from the second insurance provider as a second best quote, the second best quote corresponding to the second policy features and the second premium.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the second insurance policy at least in part by using (i) the customer information stored in the customer profile database, and/or (ii) additional customer information submitted by the customer, to automatically obtain the second insurance policy.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to notify the customer of the first insurance provider and the first premium at least by automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of the customer, and/or notify the customer of the second insurance provider and the second premium at least by automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device.

In another aspect, a system, e.g., for automatically obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage on behalf of a customer using auctions, may be provided. The system may include a data storage storing a customer profile database, a communication interface configured to communicate with remote devices via a network, one or more processors, and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions. The instructions may, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (1) receive customer information associated with a customer; (2) store the customer information in the customer profile database; (3) provide the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a first plurality of insurance providers; (4) receive one or more bids from each of one or more of the first plurality of insurance providers; (5) select a bid from a first insurance provider as a best bid, the best bid including a first premium corresponding to a first policy term; (6) send, via the communication interface, the customer a first notice indicating at least (i) the first insurance provider, and (ii) the first premium; (7) automatically determine that the first policy term is nearing expiration; (8) in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, provide the customer information stored in the customer profile database to a second plurality of insurance providers, the second plurality of insurance providers being different than or the same as the first plurality of insurance providers; (9) receive one or more bids from each of one or more of the second plurality of insurance providers; (10) select a bid from a second insurance provider as a subsequent best bid, the second insurance provider being different than or the same as the first insurance provider, and the subsequent best bid including a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term; and/or (11) send, via the communication interface, the customer a second notice indicating at least (i) the second insurance provider, and (ii) the second premium. The system may include additional, fewer, or alternate components, elements and/or functionality, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the customer information may include information entered by the customer when using a client device to access an on-line form. The instructions may further cause the one or more processors to, after sending the customer the first notice, store in the customer profile database additional customer information indicative of one or both of (i) a loyalty discount to which the customer is entitled under the business rules of one or more insurance providers, and (ii) an accident-free discount to which the customer is entitled under the business rules of the one or more insurance providers, and the instructions may cause the one or more processors to select the bid from the second insurance provider as the subsequent best bid at least by using the additional customer information to select the bid from the second insurance provider as the subsequent best bid.

The customer information may include one or more of (i) demographic information about the customer, (ii) information about a property, of the customer, that is to be insured, or (iii) one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer.

The instructions may further cause the one or more processors to: (1) receive other customer information associated with a plurality of other customers; (2) store the other customer information in the customer profile database; (3) provide the other customer information stored in the customer profile database to the first plurality of insurance providers; and/or (4) send, via the communication interface, the plurality of customers notices indicating at least the first insurance provider and the first premium.

The first notice may indicate at least (i) the first insurance provider, (ii) the first premium, and/or (iii) an expiration date of the first policy term, and/or the second notice may indicate at least (i) the second insurance provider, (ii) the second premium, and/or (iii) an expiration date of the second policy term.

The instructions may cause the one or more processors to send the customer the first notice at least by automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of the customer, and/or the instructions may cause the one or more processors to send the customer the second notice at least by automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device of the customer.

VIII. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoing discussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances may implement operations or structures described as a single instance. Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the subject matter herein.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using words such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions or processes of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transforms data represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical) quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or other machine components that receive, store, transmit, or display information.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of “a” or “an” is employed to describe elements and components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciate still additional alternative structural and functional designs for a system and a process of automatically obtaining and/or maintaining insurance coverage through the principles disclosed herein. Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein. Various modifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intended to be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless traditional means-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for” or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s). 

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, at one or more hardware servers of an intermediary entity, customer information associated with a customer; based on the customer information, assigning the customer to an affinity group with one or more other customers; storing the customer information in a customer profile database; receiving, at the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity and from each of a plurality of insurance provider computer systems associated with a plurality of respective insurance providers, a respective set of bidding rules, wherein the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity are remote from each of the plurality of insurance provider computer systems, and wherein each set of bidding rules includes rules specifying (i) when to offer a bid and (ii) an amount of the bid; automatically obtaining, by the one or more hardware servers, for each customer in the affinity group a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider of the plurality of insurance providers, wherein the first insurance policy has (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term, and wherein automatically obtaining the first insurance policy includes using the respective sets of bidding rules to conduct a first reverse auction, such that bidding decisions of the plurality of insurance providers for the first reverse auction are made by the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity; notifying, via a communication interface of the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity, each customer in the affinity group of the first insurance provider and the first premium; storing policy term data for a plurality of insurance policies, including the first insurance policy, in a term schedule database; automatically determining, by the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity accessing the term schedule database, that the first policy term is nearing expiration; in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, automatically obtaining, by the one or more hardware servers, for each customer in the affinity group a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider of the plurality of insurance providers, wherein the second insurance policy has (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term, and wherein automatically obtaining the second insurance policy includes using the respective sets of bidding rules to conduct a second reverse auction, such that bidding decisions of the plurality of insurance providers for the second reverse auction are made by the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity; and notifying, via the communication interface of the one or more hardware servers of the intermediary entity, each customer in the affinity group of the second insurance provider and the second premium.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving customer information includes receiving demographic information about the customer.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving customer information includes receiving information about a property of the customer that is to be insured.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving customer information includes receiving one or more policy features required or preferred by the customer.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein receiving customer information includes receiving one or more of: one or more coverage types required or preferred by the customer; one or more deductibles required or preferred by the customer; one or more coverage limits required or preferred by the customer; an insurer rating required or preferred by the customer; or a premium range required or preferred by the customer.
 6. (canceled)
 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein automatically obtaining for the affinity group a second insurance policy includes: using (i) the customer information stored in the customer profile database, and (ii) additional customer information submitted by the customer, to automatically obtain the second insurance policy.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving customer information associated with the customer includes receiving customer information entered by the customer at a client device using an on-line form.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: notifying each customer in the affinity group of the first insurance provider and the first premium includes automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of each customer in the affinity group; and notifying each customer in the affinity group of the second insurance provider and the second premium includes automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device of each customer in the affinity group.
 12. A system of an intermediary entity, the system comprising: a data storage storing a customer profile database; a term schedule database; a communication interface configured to communicate with remote devices via a network; one or more processors; and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: based on customer information stored in the customer profile database, assign one or more customers to an affinity group, receive, from each of a plurality of insurance provider computer systems associated with a plurality of respective insurance providers, a respective set of bidding rules, wherein the system of the intermediary entity is remote from each of the plurality of insurance provider computer systems, and wherein each set of bidding rules includes rules specifying (i) when to offer a bid and (ii) an amount of the bid, automatically obtain for each customer in the affinity group a first insurance policy from a first insurance provider, wherein the first insurance policy has (i) first policy features, and (ii) a first premium corresponding to a first policy term, and wherein automatically obtaining the first insurance policy includes using the respective sets of bidding rules to conduct a first reverse auction, at least in part by making bidding decisions of the plurality of insurance providers for the first reverse auction, notify, via the communication interface, each customer in the affinity group of the first insurance provider and the first premium, store policy term data for a plurality of insurance policies, including the first insurance policy, in the term schedule database, automatically determine, by accessing the term schedule database, that the first policy term is nearing expiration, in response to determining that the first policy term is nearing expiration, automatically obtain for each customer in the affinity group a second insurance policy from a second insurance provider, wherein the second insurance policy has (i) second policy features, and (ii) a second premium corresponding to a second policy term subsequent to the first policy term, and wherein automatically obtaining the second insurance policy includes using the respective sets of bidding rules to conduct a second reverse auction, at least in part by making bidding decisions of the plurality of insurance providers for the second reverse auction, and notify, via the communication interface, each customer in the affinity group of the second insurance provider and the second premium.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the customer information includes one or both of: demographic information about each customer in the affinity group; or information about a property of each customer in the affinity group that is to be insured.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the customer information includes one or more policy features required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the customer information includes one or more of: one or more coverage types required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group; one or more deductibles required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group; one or more coverage limits required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group; an insurer rating required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group; or a premium range required or preferred by each customer in the affinity group.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the first insurance policy at least in part by using the customer information to assign a new customer to the affinity group.
 18. (canceled)
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to use the customer information stored in the customer profile database to automatically obtain the second-insurance policy at least in part by: using (i) the customer information stored in the customer profile database, and (ii) additional customer information submitted by at least one customer in the affinity group, to automatically obtain the second insurance policy.
 20. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: notify each customer in the affinity group of the first insurance provider and the first premium at least by automatically generating a first email and sending the first email to a client device of each customer in the affinity group; and notify each customer in the affinity group of the second insurance provider and the second premium at least by automatically generating a second email and sending the second email to the client device of each customer in the affinity group. 